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[History Buff]

They could always connect it with a series of ziplines and ropes.

[History Buff]

Maybe the miners need a saloon on their side of town, a place where only silver dust is accepted as payment.  Like my previous concept of the lumberjack saloon, the miners could provide the show's interruption, dancing on the staves, and acrobatically jumping over their picks and shovels in a carefully-choreographed action fight that ends explosively with the whole side of the saloon blowing off revealing a portion of the new mine coaster built in the same area.  For that matter, the coaster could wrap around this venue with fly-throughs adjacent to the queue.

[History Buff]

I have solved the dilemma.  This came to me in a dream while I was riding the new "Route 66 Coaster" at Silver Dollar City (It was nothing to write home about, by the way.).

The Silver Dollar Line, in conjunction with Doc Harris Enterprises, announces the newly re-engineered "Time Train", an experience to take guests into Silver Dollar City during 1960.  What will SDC look like in 1960? you ask.  Well, lets see:

First, the train will travel through a "time tunnel" to transport visitors to the future (1960, a symbolic year).  Once there, in an area away from the current park, we walk through the Hospitality House, which is now the Hospitality Arcade.

On the other side, the band stand (formerly the gazebo), rocks with popular music of the past decade (50's).  The "square" now hosts classic car shows every weekend, with local car clubs showcasing their babies.  The Main Street buildings have transformed through the years and now boast their new storefronts and signage, including lots of neon.  Hannah's is still Hannahs, but now it's a rockin' soda fountain complete with jerks.  Other shops reflect some changes.  Costuming is also different now.  The Mine and the Mill are now the Mine and Mill Pizza Parlor, Roller Rink, and Bowling Alley, in which guests may rent skates.  A more current firetruck is on display on the other side of the square, along with a victory garden in the place of the old homestead.

Working counterclockwise through the condensed version of the park, we find a newer, hipper candy store.  The Flooded Mine is now the Flooded Mine mini-golf (a pay-to-play attraction).  ThuNderaTion is now the ThuNderaTion Raceway, where guests can drive period cars around a track.

Ice skating is offered at the cannery (a smaller version of the original), and the Grand Exposition has been replaced by a street carnival with the best rides from Celebration City filling the area, with the CC Carousel taking the place of the Wave Carousel.  The carnival can even rotate its rides throughout the year so the experience continually changes.

The Lost River and Geyser Gulch have now become the LR and GG waterpark, with any number of waterslides and attractions (White Water is a thing of the past.).  Geyser Gulch is also the location of the new Adventure Mountain ropes course.  The Riverfront Playhouse is updated as a dinner theater.  Even the newest ride at SDC gets a makeover in 1960.  Tom and Huck's Riverblast is now an enclosed laser tag area.  The Giant Swing is a display of modern agricultural techniques.

Fire-in-the-Hole is now a dark ride that simply slowly takes guests through fire, local, and Silver Dollar City history, ending in a walk-through experience.  The Opera House is now a movie theater showing classic movies on the big screen (the only place you can see old movies on the big screen).  And Powder Keg is now a big chat pile with a track through it that guests can sled down.

Wildfire is now a gas station and drive in restaurant where guests can order from carhops or step inside a great old hamburger joint.  The Saloon is now a biker bar (just kidding).  American Plunge eventually gets a position here, too, now as a white water rapids ride with a huge plunge at the end.  Oh, and grandfather's mansion is rebuilt in its approximate space (to ADA standards), and is now Great, Great, Great Grandfather's Mansion.

Shops can be interspersed strategically as in the 1800s park.  The whole thing, as I said, is a condensed version with all kinds of tongue-in-cheek nods to the original.  A book will be published called Spot the Differences in which readers can compare pictures of each time period (Volume Two will be a contrast between the real 1960 and the "future" 1960 of SDC.).

Guests to SDC will have free admission to this new section, but will still have to pay to play golf or laser tag, skate, bowl, see a movie, or enter the waterpark.  On the other hand, the general public also will have access to shop in the area, but they will be charged for tickets to ride any of the carnival rides, etc.  They could also enter SDC on this side, by purchasing a pass and boarding the train to go back in time.

The train will plummet through another time tunnel to get to the current station, at some time playing Huey Louis while going "Back in Time".

Methinks the train will not be enough to accommodate the number of guests wanting to travel back and forth through time, so we may need to think of a barnstorming idea, in which guests can ride ski-lifts to the new area and back, getting a great view along the way.

Naturally, features in this new area would be able to remain open when SDC closes for the evening or for the season.

[History Buff]

Possible mini-festivals could include:

Rockin' the World (during WorldFest, a way to focus on America's influence on the rest of the world)
Space Cowboys (during the Cowboy Festival, focusing on the space race of the 1950s and 60s)

During Old Time Christmas, the old tree could be erected in the new square and reprogrammed to some of the classic crooners.

[History Buff]

I forgot to mention the laser/water show in the "new" Echo Hollow each evening.

[Swoosh]

^Stealing my ideas there   I've long said that should happen.

I also think they should have a concert series during October in Echo Hollow called ROCKtoberfest

[shavethewhales]

That was some dream History Buff! I only ever get to dream of getting pulled apart by leprechauns or lame stuff like that.

It would definitely be amusing to see people get confused about not only where they were, but when they were  .

[Firstvisit1967]

I think they should build a hotel on the park property.  They would have plenty of great theme ideas and you know it would be a tough reservation.  They could add pools and restaurant for the guest.  Hotel guest would have a special entrance to the park.   
Stage Coach Inn,  The Mystery Mine Hotel, 

[Coaster]

^That has actually been a topic we've talked about before. Check it out:

http://sdcfans.com/forums/index.php?topic=171.0

[PastorDon]

One of my favorite Disney attractions has always been the Haunted Mansions.  While that exact type of attraction may not fit in with SDC's theme, why couldn't they make a dark ride that would be an expansion of Grandfather's Mansion?  It wouldn't have to have the spooky supernatural stuff the Disney rides have, but could utilize many of the same kind of special effects that are already in GM plus other cutting edge technologies, like holograms to make it just kind of a topsy-turvey world where unexpected things happen.  The back story could be something like this:  Grandfather was a crazy inventor who messed with all sorts of technologies with surprising results. 

Maybe they're already working on this.   I noticed several years ago that SDC was apparently experimenting with attempting to duplicate one of the effects from the Haunted Mansions.  While you were waiting in line to ride the FMS, you could look through a window and see (and I don't remember which anymore) either an animated talking bust or picture on the wall.  This was done, as it is at Disney, by projecting a real face onto the bust or picture frame using an LCD projector.  While I'm sure Disney spent a lot of money years ago to make their group of singing busts in the cemetery, that's pretty common and inexpensive technology these days. 

[KBCraig]

My idea is a rollercoaster over Lake Silver, that actually plunges under water! And I'm gonna get the CEO of Herschend to send me to school to design it!

Oh... wait... someone beat me to it?

[Junior]

That animated head in the warden's office at the flooded mine has been there since the late 1970's. At one time, several of the dummys in the flooded mine were animated, as well. All that humidity creates "break down" problems with the projectors, so I'm guessing that's why they moved away from that.

[Ozark Outlaw]

My idea is a rollercoaster over Lake Silver, that actually plunges under water! And I'm gonna get the CEO of Herschend to send me to school to design it!

Oh... wait... someone beat me to it?

Stop stealing my ideas!

[Junior]

And as you go underwater, you see what's UNDER LAKE SILVER...like say the 26 year old wreckage of a diving bell! Maybe you will get to see a glimpse of Grandpappy Dugan's ghost, ever guarding that elusive treasure...hmmm....the possibilities!

[Ozark Outlaw]

Well the silly Diving Bell kept blowing gaskets, and pipes everytime it went down. It wouldn't surprise me to find it at the bottom of Lake Silver.

Maybe they could open a new attraction where you get to dive to see the old Diving Bell! It could be an all new high-tech 1890's version!